I´d blame the goverment!!!
The laws do not alwaysreflect the correct thing to do. If the animal has been hit it should tracked with whatever means that is available (read a good dog and agun) until it is killed. It can be easier with sound pragmatic rules.

NEB buckhunter and Timber creek both made the best solution IMO. Be out in advance and talk to your hunting negihbors. If you are a hunter you will sooner or later make a bad shot. the question is in what situation you would want to be then.

I made a poll on the forum (still runs "is it hunting to go after a wounded deer")and out of 30 answers 20 did not consider it hunting to go after it. Of theese 10 still thinks that the same ethical rules should apply that works inhunting in general.
10 answered thatgoing after a wounded deer is hunting and five of theese that this is part of what makes hunting interesting so even if this subject has been debated alot there still is a long way to go before there is even consensus around what the right thing to do is.

At risk of being hated I say: make hunting education mandatory for almost every hunter! If you know so much about hunting that you dont think you need this. Well then you could sleep through it and stillpass the test!